Month: December 2016

Tampa Bay is one of the country’s best places to own rental property. But before you do, make sure you have a plan.

You will need to know how you are going to purchase the property. Do you have enough cash for the purchase or will you need financing? Speak to your lender and tax adviser before you being your search.

Find a Realtor who works with investors. Have they sold investment properties before? Do they own investment properties themselves? You want someone on your team who has experience and can give you good guidance.

Once you find a suitable property, you can estimate what your cash flow will be.

First decide how much rent to charge. Compare your property to other rental properties in the area. Multiply the monthly rent by 12 to determine your potential gross income. From there deduct an expected vacancy rate (such as the turnover time between tenants) to find your Effective Gross Income.

Now deduct your operating expenses. These include fixed expenses like taxes and insurance along with variable expenses such as advertising for tenants, maintenance, management fees and such.

Now deduct your mortgage payment if you have one. The amount you have left is your Cash Flow before taxes.

If you have any questions about purchasing or selling rental property in Tampa Bay give me a call, I’d love to help you.

This weekend we had the honor and the privilege of seeing my youngest son Brent graduate from Florida State University. He graduated with a Bachelor’s of Science in Accounting and soon will be attending grad school at Florida State as well.

I’ve always enjoyed visiting the beautiful campus but of course this time was extra special. The ceremony was held at the Donald L. Tucker Civic Center. It was the perfect venue, comfortable cushioned seats for hubby and a great view complete with a jumbo tron for close ups.

After the ceremony we were allowed on the football field for family and friend photos. We took plenty of course! My mom was with us and used her fancy camera but those aren’t ready to share yet or of course I would. And naturally we stood in front of the statue of “Unconquered” to recreate the photo we took when Brent first visited Florida State.

The funny thing is this wasn’t his first choice of universities, but after four years neither he or I could imagine him going anywhere else. He received an outstanding education, met some fantastic people who will be lifelong friends, and had a spring internship that lead to an unbelievable job offer after grad school. We are blessed!

If your college bound student is thinking about Florida State I highly recommend it! Feel free to call with any questions and I’ll answer what I can and connect you to Brent.

Often sellers will ask if they can be home while an agent is showing their home to potential buyers. Can you be home? Of course you can, but you shouldn’t.

Why shouldn’t you be home while buyers are touring your home?

Your presence may make buyers feel uncomfortable. Buyers may feel they need to rush through the tour when a seller is present so they don’t inconvenience you. They may not take the time to linger and explore each room. They may feel they can’t discuss things they don’t like about the property or remodeling projects they might do.

You might accidentally say something that puts you at a disadvantage during negotiations. You don’t want the buyers and their agent to know that you have to move quickly or that if this home doesn’t sell you will lose out on purchasing the home you have already picked out.

It is in your best interest to find something to do for a bit while home buyers tour your property. Go out for a cup of coffee or a meal, take a walk, do your shopping, take a book to read at the park…plan on going anywhere else you can!

Exciting news, Century 21 Shaw Realty has merged with Century 21 Affiliated! This merger means I am now part of the largest Century 21 company in the world!

Century 21 Affiliated has offices in Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and now Florida! We are their first merger in the state of Florida, bringing along our 200 or so local agents from our four offices in the Tampa Bay area.

I cannot wait to learn all of the exciting changes that will take place over the next few months, however many things will remain the same since we are still a Century 21 brokerage. We still have a fantastic relocation department along with outstanding marketing tools for all of our listings.